Winter Landscape Maintenance for Commercial Properties
It’s officially winter in San Diego, the cold and rain are here, and plants are growing at a much slower rate these days. Now it’s time for your commercial landscape provider to transition into winter maintenance, so that your property’s landscape continues to thrive throughout the colder months and is ready to take on spring when it arrives once again.
One of our goals during these cooler months is to deep prune select shrubs. Deep pruning allows us to thin out and reduce the overall size of the plant, setting it up for healthy growth in the spring and summer. It also helps us reduce the trimming needed in the growing season and assists us in being more efficient in caring for your entire property. This process typically takes place once we’ve gotten through the potential for frost, as tender new growth can be very susceptible to frost damage. Late February/early March (weather permitting) is a great time for us to tackle this task.
Colder weather also requires different fertilizer formulations to ensure plants are getting the proper nutrients they require in cooler temperatures. Where appropriate, pre-emergent herbicides will be applied, and again in February/March to help reduce weed growth. Select pre-emergent herbicides applied to your grass areas at the end of winter will help in controlling Crabgrass and other invasive weeds.
In addition to cold weather preparation, it’s equally as important to prepare your property’s landscape for rain (and we’re getting a lot of it this year!). Your landscape maintenance contractor will routinely check and monitor all landscape drains and brow ditches and clean up debris where necessary. This helps to prevent flooding and storm damage.
Another aspect of winter landscape maintenance is irrigation modifications. Our crews begin reducing irrigation run times at the start of the winter season to match the shorter days, and then continues to do so as we progress through winter. By now, most, if not all controllers are off. We’re also checking rain and weather sensors that may be connected to your smart irrigation controllers to make sure they are functioning correctly. During periods of heavy or ongoing rain, we will shut off irrigation systems and monitor the soil moisture, reactivating the irrigation systems when appropriate. Back up batteries at your controller(s) will be also be replaced to ensure clocks have the power they need to run, in case of a power outage.
Winter is also a great time to address tree trimming concerns, to prevent damage caused by storms. Your Benchmark Account Manager will be offering their assistance in evaluating trees on your properties and coordinating any needed tree trimming services.
Despite the cold weather and slow plant growth, there’s still a lot to be accomplished in the landscape of your property. Though the rains do make it difficult to be productive on your sites at times, our dedicated crews and managers are here to care for your property year-round, answer any questions you may have, and offer recommendations – when and where needed. If you’re in need of landscape maintenance services, contact us now to schedule a property evaluation.